Horizons Projects | Integrating “Abstinence” and “Be Faithful” (AB) into the Life Skills Program in Mpumalanga Province

HORIZONS PROJECT
Integrating “Abstinence” and “Be Faithful” (AB) into the Life Skills Program in Mpumalanga Province

Horizons, in cooperation with local stakeholders and the Mpumalanga Department of Education, is conducting a study to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the integration of a life skills curriculum centered around sexual abstinence and faithfulness into the Department of Education’s Life Orientation Program for learners in grades 6 and 7 (aged 10–14) in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa.

As the number of youth being infected with HIV between the ages of 15 and 24 years continues to rise in South Africa, it is important to reach youth with critical prevention messages at younger ages, 10–14 years. During this period, most youth have not engaged in sexual activity and are receptive to messages about abstinence, delaying sex, and faithfulness as positive and achievable behaviors. Many students in South Africa receive a majority of their information on HIV and AIDS through school-based curriculums, therefore school-based programs are an important mechanism to reach youth with HIV prevention messages, including those that focus on A and B.

Horizons worked with local stakeholders to develop and pre-test the Dare to Be Different (D2BD) curriculum. Pilot results from three primary schools indicated that this curriculum filled a gap in the Life Skills and HIV and AIDS Education Program and that the D2BD curriculum was accepted by learners, teachers, and parents. An expanded pilot of D2BD was conducted among 1,500 sixth and seventh graders at nine primary schools in Mpumalanga Province in order to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of integrating this curriculum into the existing Life Orientation Program.

Key findings include:

Teachers and learners feel positive about D2BD.
Learners want more than just HIV prevention information.
D2BD enhances the Life Orientation Programme.
D2BD improves parent-child communication.
Challenges to implementation remain.

Population Council plans to revise the curriculum module based on the pilot’s findings to further improve its acceptability and usefulness among teachers and learners. In 2008, Population Council will conduct a more rigorous evaluation of D2BD among sixth and seventh grade learners at 30 schools throughout Mpumalanga Province.

Location

Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Duration

February 2006–July 2007

Horizons and Population Council researchers

Nathi Sohaba, Eka Esu-Williams, Tobey Nelson

Non-Council collaborators

Kenau Swart (consultant)

Mpumalanga Department of Education

Donor

US Agency for International Development

Publications/Resources
Horizons and Population Council researchers' names appear in boldface type.

2008
Sapiano, Tobey Nelson, Nathi Sohaba, and Eka Esu-Williams. “‘Dare to be different:’ Enhancing life skills education for HIV prevention in South African schools,” Horizons Research Summary. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF)